MassChallenge received approximately 1,650 applications from 40 countries, making this year's class the most competitive yet. The pool was whittled down to 128 finalists, who spent the last few months months working out of the Boston Innovation and Design Building.

The top 26 will face a final judging panel, who will be tasked with determining which startups will receive equity-free funding. The winners will be announced at the MassChallenge Awards Ceremony, taking place on October 29 at 5 p.m. at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick will be in attendance, speaking alongside Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Innovation Hub Host Kara Miller.

"These top 26 startups are poised to make a tremendous impact across a variety of industries — from healthcare to education to clean technology," said MassChallenge Founder and President Akhil Nigam in a statement. "While the final judges will have a difficult task ahead of them, we can all agree that each of these startups has great potential."